There are now at least 1,638 coronavirus cases across the U.S. Department of Defense, including 893 cases among active military members
The Pentagon has been providing daily updates for the number of defense personnel affected by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, according to the Washington Examiner. The Pentagon totals note cases among active military members, as well as their family members, direct civilian employees and outside defense contractors.
As of their Thursday numbers, reported Friday at 5 a.m. In addition to the 893 military service members, an additional 306 civilian employees were also numbered among the cases, as were 256 military dependents and 95 defense contractors.
Thursday’s numbers indicate more than 200 coronavirus cases added over the previous day’s total, at 1,405 confirmed cases.
Of those with coronavirus cases, 120 people are currently hospitalized, including 35 active military members. Another 83 patients have recovered from their coronavirus cases, including 59 military members.
On Monday, the Pentagon reported the first military service member to die from coronavirus, Capt. Douglas Linn Hickok, a physician’s assistant with the 104th Brigade Engineer Battalion of the New Jersey Army National Guard, based out of Port Murray, N.J.
Hickok is the only service member who has died of coronavirus to date. Two civilian employees, one dependent and one contractor have also died.
Among its own members, the U.S. Air Force reported, as of April 1, a total of 264 service members with coronavirus. Another 80 civilian members, 65 dependents and 20 contractors also had coronavirus cases, bringing the Air Force to a service-wide total of 429 cases. The service reported 38 people hospitalized and 35 more recovered.
On April 1, the U.S. Navy had announced at least 216 coronavirus cases among its members. More than 100 coronavirus cases have been confirmed among crew members aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt, in a high profile issue where the captain of the aircraft carrier abandoned the ship’s course in the Philippine Sea to evacuate crew members to a port in Guam. The incident saw even more publicity after the captain was relieved of his command after issuing a letter he wrote, warning of the conditions aboard the ship, leaked to the press.
Thus far in its efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic, the Pentagon has indicated plans for a 60-day halt on military travel overseas, potentially postponing some deployments and prolonging others. The Pentagon also previously limited travel for members within the U.S., in an order that stopped changes of stations for military members and barred civilian members and DoD family members from government-funded travel.
